Love has always been a favourite subject for India's painters. The Rasikapriya, a 16th-century poem on lovers and their moods, was painted again and again at the Rajput courts, filled with secret meetings, sulking quarrels and tender reunions.

In these paintings, lovers share a cup of wine on a moonlit terrace, whisper in a garden pavilion or simply lean close, lost in each other.

The Love Scenes Collection paintings tend to find their way to anniversaries and first homes, passed between husbands and wives or given to newlyweds. They outshine most diamonds and outlast every bouquet.